The Newcomer
by Puffy Hurricane
Summary: There's a new student at the Westly Accademy of Performing Arts, and she's the niece of Sunny Bridges. Wil she make new friends, and how will she be able to fit in? Find out!


**Class of 3000: The Newcomer**

One day, the kids of the music class of the Westly School of Performing Arts were waiting for their teacher, Sunny Bridges, to arrive so they could go on with their class for the day. Sunny was once a famous singer and song writer, and still is, but not very long ago he became a teacher for the music class. Today, Sunny was running a little late, which never happened before. "Man, why is Sunny taking so long to get here today?" said Tamika impatiently. "Didn't you guys see the weather? There's a huge storm out there." said Lil' D, the gang's leader. All the kids went over to the windows, and they knew Lil' D was right. Outside, it was raining really hard. The rain beat against the windows quieting down the sounds of the city. In fact the raindrops on the roof sounded like buckshot. There were also loud rolls of thunder coming from outside and flashes of lightening in the sky. Just then, they heard footsteps coming from out in the hallway. "Someone's coming!" Eddie said softly. In a panic, the kids hurried back to their seats and waited to see who was coming.

Before long, the class room door opened and two figures wearing raincoats walked into the room. The tall one was Sunny Bridges, himself. "Hey everybody, sorry I'm late," he said taking off his raincoat and hanging up his umbrella. "The weather outside is really nasty! My car almost skidded right off the road on the way here." Sunny went on, "Anyhow, I have great news." "What news?" the kids all shouted excitedly. "We have a new student who'll be joining us in class," said Sunny, "I'd like you all to meet my niece, Dakota." he announced as he introduced a girl to the class. She was slender with short wavy blackish-dark brown hair, sapphire-blue eyes, and was slightly the same size as Lil' D.

The class stood up at their desks in amazement. "Well, this is quite an occasion," said Philly Phil. "Yeah, it's not everyday that someone related to Sunny attends school with us," Madison agreed. Excitement was soon filling up the place. It really was the very first time anyone could get to know a student who's related to someone famous. "Gracious me!" thought Dakota, "I feel like the center of attention." No doubt about it, when Lil' D first saw Dakota, it was love at first sight. Little did he know, even Dakota felt that way about him. She also knew that she would feel right at home with the whole class, and before long she'd fit right in. She also got a desk in between Lil' D and Madison, whom she became fast friends with.

Before long, the principle, Mr. Luna, called Sunny over the loud speaker. "Mr. Bridges!" he called, "Your presence is requested at the auditorium." "I'm on my way!" Sunny called. Before he left, he told the class that today's lessons were written on the board and that while doing their studies to get better acquainted with Dakota. As Sunny dashed right out of the room, the door pounded shut after him. After Sunny left, Dakota took her seat next to Lil' D. Today's studies written on the board were 1: "Write about what you do to relax if you get stage fright before either a concert or a performance" 2: "Get to know new student in class" 3: "Practice for next month's concert". Everyone soon went on with what needed to be done.

"I heard that the school is doing tryouts for the musical Annie," said Madison. "I know all about that," said Dakota, remembering that she signed up for the part of Annie in the play. Then, she ask Lil' D, "Are you trying out for a part in the musical too?" "I sure am," he said. "I recently tried out for the part of Oliver Warbucks, the billionaire who plans to adopt Annie." Dakota told the others that some of the people who were also signing up for the play's tryouts said she couldn't play Annie because she was too different and that her hair was blackish-brown. "That doesn't seem fair," said Kim. "Yeah, nobody should be treated like that!" added her twin brother Kam.

"Did you still audition for the part of Annie in the play?" asked Eddie. "I sure did! Come to think of it, I remember something that my uncle, Sunny, told me before I came to this school," said Dakota. "What's that?" Philly Phil wanted to know. "Don't mind what those who don't understand say. As long as you believe in yourself, nothing's impossible," replied Dakota. "You know, Sunny was always right about that," said Lil' D. "That reminds me," said Tamika handing Dakota, Lil' D, and Kim each of piece of paper that looked important. After reading the notes, the three of them found out that they had been selected to star in the play Annie. Lil' D got the part for Oliver Warbucks. Kim's role was Mr. Warbucks' secretary, Ms. Grace Parral, and Dakota was chosen for the role of Annie. Dakota was really honored and happy when she got the part. She couldn't wait to get ready to start rehearsing for the big musical play that she will perform along side Lil' D and Kim. It said on the paper that the show was to be on Thusday, and Dakota realized that today was Tuesday. So she and her friends agreed to rehearse immediately.

While the kids were all finishing their assignment, namely writing about what they do for comfort if they got stage fright before a concert or performance, Sunny came back with some news that sounded serious. "Kids, I've just heard some terrible news," he said. "I've just been told that some of the kids who were supposed to play the orphans in the musical, "Annie" have all come down with a bad case of the flu and are bed-ridden for two weeks. In other words, they won't recover in time for the performance." The kids knew that this was pretty bad news. "But the good news is," Sunny went on, "Since Lil' D, Kim, and Dakota are starring in the show, Principle Luna asked me to cast the rest of you in it as Annie's friends, the orphans." Everyone burst into excitement. They almost couldn't believe that they were going to star in a musical together.

It wasn't long before the kids remembered something. "Sunny," Eddie suddenly said, "I almost forgot! We were supposed to do the music for the play at first." "I thought about that, Eddie. So I have all the music for the show her on a special CD that I'm going to set in the auditorium's sound system." Sunny replied showing the kids a music disc. Throughout the day the kids worked hard. Before long, the time came for them to rehearse for the musical and the kids walked over to the auditorium to begin. Sure enough Tamika spotted two familiar faces. It was Kaylie and Haley themselves. "You better be careful," she told Dakota, "Those two girls right over there are the very same ones who got me in big trouble for a prank they pulled." "Those are the same girls who said I couldn't be in the play because I was too diferent," said Dakota.

Suddenly Kaylie and Haley caught sight of both Tamika and Dakota. "Well, what do we have here?" said Haley. "Nice to see you again, Tamika, and just who is your new friend?" asked Kaylie, "This new kid happens to be my teacher's niece, Dakota." Tamika replied. "I remember seeing her around," said Haley, "Because she said something about trying for the part of Annie." "That's right," said Tamika, "And you know what? She got the part." This practically worried Kaylie and Haley at first. So they decided to talk among themselves. "That Dakota kid's got the part of "Annie", can you believe it?" said Haley. "This ruins a lot for us. With her as the main character, everyone will start paying attention to her instead us," said Kaylie. Just then, the two girls came up with what they thought was their best idea ever. They decided to do it during opening night of the performance.

For the next few days the kids rehearsed for the play. Eddie was put in charge of designing the costumes, Philly Phil helped with the chorography, Kim took on the job of assistant stage manager, and Sunny, of course was the stage manager. They all worked hard for the past few days working on the play and rehearsing. Meanwhile, outside the auditorium, Haley and Kaylie were getting ready for their plan. "This is going to be perfect," said Haley. "You said it, Haley," said Kaylie. "Those guys will never know what hit them." They figured that by threatening the performance, they would earn the right as the best in the whole school. Before long, the night of the performance arrived. The auditorium was absolutely packed with people waiting to see the show. But they were unaware of what Haley and Kaylie had up their prank-yanking sleeves. "I'm so nervous about tonight," said Kim. "I hope we all remember our lines," Kam added looking at his script. "We've been practicing for days. I know we'll do great. We just need to remember the relaxation techniques that we use," Dakota said.

As soon as everyone took their places, the show was ready to start. What the kids didn't know was that Haley and Kaylie had just set up a line of traps for Dakota. However, Tamika had spotted them setting up the traps and quickly told Lil' D who quickly warned Dakota of the danger. "Dakota, listen to me very carefully," he told her, "Haley and Kaylie are up to something. I'm not sure what it is, but you really should be careful." Don't worry, Lil' D. I'll make sure those two don't make fools out of us," replied Dakota.

During the performance, Dakota and company performed amazingly, and all the while, the traps ended up backfiring on Kaylie and Haley. Throughout the whole show, the kids pleased the entire audience and, unknown to them, caused more humiliation for Haley and Kaylie as the traps kept on backfiring on them. By the climax of the play, both of the two girls had enough. They tried to stop the show by pulling a lever, hoping to bring the curtain down on Dakota and the others. But instead, the lever Kaylie and Haley pulled activated the spotlight. All of a sudden, the two girls lost their balance and fell from backstage balcony and into the box of stage props leftover from past performances. Because they were tangled up in the props the only thing they could do now was wait until the end of the show to get at Dakota and the others. Sure enough, when the time came for the curtain call the entire cast of the show, Dakota and her friends among them, everyone took a bow as the audience cheered and applauded for a great performance.

But before long, Haley and Kaylie angrily stomped onto the stage battered and bruised. "_I'm_ supposed to be a star!" Haley yelled grabbing hold of Dakota. "We both should've had written you and your friends out of the script when we created that avalanche of props!" Kaylie shouted. Sure enough, they both had shouted what they said into a microphone that tangled on Haley's back. The entire audience was in shock when they heard what was just said in front of them. Tamika was listening too. So, she pulled a lever that she was standing next to and it triggered a trap door which opened under both Haley and Kaylie. Down the opened door they both fell. "I told you those two couldn't be trusted," said Tamika as she shut the trap door and walked up to Dakota. "I knew that the whole time, Tamika," Dakota replied.

It really was a wonderful show. The entire audience clapped and cheered louder than before. The only thing that Dakota and her friends could was take a bow. Before long, Haley and Kaylie, rather than being suspended, were sentenced to auditorium cleaning duty for a whole month as a punishment for threatening Mr. Bridges' niece and almost ruining the play. And as for Dakota, she had made quite a hit at the school with a lot of the people there. She had become fast friends with Lil' D and Madison on her very first day at her new school, and also got a starring role in the musical play "Annie". Dakota had won the hearts of so many people ever since her very first day at her new school.

Dakota had never felt so much joy like this before. She really started feeling right at home at the school. That night before going to bed, Dakota kept thinking about how lucky she was to have wonderful friends. From then on, Dakota had made even more good friends with many the other students of the Westly Academy of Performing Arts. She might not have become big stuff with Kaylie and Haley, but she had become a great friend to Lil' D, Madison, and some others like them. What happy girl she was, and quite lucky too. It really made her feel all warm both inside and out just thinking of how proud she had made her uncle, and how much she was appreciated by so many people. It really was one of the best times she ever had ever since she moved to Atlanta, Georgia with her family, and made a lot of very special friends. In other words, she felt like the happiest girl around.

The End


End file.
